CCTV Implicates 'The Killers' over Bulgaria Top Banker Murder

Emil Kyulev, one of the richest men in Bulgaria, was being driven to work in Sofia in his BMW sports utility vehicle on October 26, 2005 when, shortly after 9:00 am he was shot and killed by a man hiding in the bushes. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

А gang, who carried out contract killings, is most probably behind the slaying of Bulgaria's top bankerEmilKyulev seven years ago, the interior minister claims.

"The CCTV footage from one of the cameras in the area shot on tape one of The Killers gang members - Dachi, who apparently prepared the area for the assassination, scoured it meticulously and may even turn out to be the physical killer. I believe we are not far away from unraveling this murder," Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov commented for the state TV channel.

He spoke shortly after a Bulgarian court sentenced three men from the gang, including a six-time European sumo champion, to life in prison for membership of an organized crime gang that carried out contract killings.

Another three men from the same gang, nicknamed "The Killers", received jail terms ranging from four to 17 years. The six were arrested in 2010.

In the course of more than five years after the 2005 murder nobody managed to recognize the man, who allegedly fixed the location of the shooter. Last year however he was identified as one of the members of The Killers" gang – Georgi Petkov, aka Dachi.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was the first to make public this version in October 2010, saying that it is quite possible that "The Killers" gang had a motive and were accomplices in the murder of Emil Kyulev. Now they may be close to backing their case with evidence.

"Rumen Rachev and lawyer Lukov, who are believed to have been murdered by the gang, have been involved in a scheme for redistribution of money, which Kyulev owed to owners of former banks," the minister explained.

EmilKyulev, one of the richest men in Bulgaria, was being driven to work in Sofia in his BMW sports utility vehicle on October 26, 2005 when, shortly after 9:00 am he was shot and killed by a man hiding in the bushes.

Shortly after the murder the police released an e-fit picture of the suspect they are looking for. The suspect was described as being aged 28, about 170 centimeters, of slim build and hollow-cheeked face, moustaches and a beard. The man wore a hat at the time of the crime.

Kyulev was the head of DZI Group, the biggest insurance and banking firm in the country, with more than 12,000 employees and USD 585 M in assets. He was close to all the major political parties and served as an economic adviser to President Georgi Parvanov.

His murder was particularly shocking because he did not fit the profile of the smugglers, extortionists and drug dealers who were slain in a boom of organized crime-related deaths at that time.